The Story of Ygraine's Death
by Warrior Princess Mira
Summary: We all know why Uther hates magic? Because, magic killed his wife Ygraine. But how did magic kill Ygraine? This is the story fo Ygraine's Death. Ygraine/Uther pre-series and still spoilers, rated T for precaution.


**So, before starting in the original Arthurian legends Arthur's mother is names Ygraine, in the BBC Merlin show her name is spelled Ygraine. So I'll most probably be using the Ygraine, since it's a piece of BBC Merlin fanfiction after all.**

**The reasoning behind this fanfiction, or a fanfiction with this kind of plot, is mainly because I have a lot of unanswered questions about the past, I've always wondered what exactly happened between Ygraine and Uther to lead to using magic and then the events that transpired after that seem extremely vague to me so: I hope that this fanfiction either makes something more clear to you or makes it an even bigger mystery, please do tell me.**

**One-Shot  
Short Story**

The atmosphere in the king's quarters was tense and anxious, the air was slightly heavy with the smell of firewood smoke and hints of nervous sweat mixed with the gentle tint of the queen's rose perfume could be detected by a more trained nose. The sounds of pacing footsteps could be heard over the crackling of the fire in the hearth along with the shallow breathing of the room's quite anxious inhabitants.

King Uther Pendragon was pacing back and forth across the recently washed wooden floor of his bedroom, his worry and impatience had broken down his normally iron grip over his nerves, and he was quickly losing the control of his bodies as his nervousness gripped his inner core. He wasn't stressing without reason either, the importance of the next couple of hours could easily impact greatly on his dearly beloved Camelot.

Besides ruling the prosperous Camelot and protecting its people; he had another important task, producing an heir so that the Pendragon bloodline was secure of ruling the Kingdom for another generation. Of course, due to his social status as King he could order any women to bed with him so that he could produce his heir, but he was quite certain of the people of Camelot losing their trust in him if had a relationship with another women whilst in marriage with the greatly loved Queen Ygraine.

It was therefore that the following hour would be of great importance, after several attempts at producing a heir, spread over a time period of eight years, of which all unfortunately were unsuccessful, the royal couple had decided to alert the court physician Gaius of their issue in hopes that he could provide them with an explanation and hopefully a cure.

Gaius was a trusted friend of both the King and the Queen, and as a consequence seemed like the perfect candidate for the task of being an advisor. He had been less than surprised at neither the request nor the news, although neither Ygraine nor Uther questioned him about it, as Gaius was rather all-knowing and wise, but he had been more than happy to help.

About half an hour prior Gaius had strode into the quarters, without knocking prior to entering, and had awkwardly taken some samples from his Queen, before swiftly returning to his chambers, where his scientific laboratory, if it could be called that; seeing as there were quite a few odd trinkets lying around, had been set up. Before starting the laborious process of testing the samples; hoping to find a scientific answer, and thereby creating a solution to the problems.

Ygraine had positioned herself gracefully under the bed covers, tired and slightly weary of her future. Several thoughts were whizzing through her head, although she had previously been extremely certain of her love for Uther and his love for her, his current antics had sprouted a tiny seed of doubt in her mind. _'If it really is true, if I am indeed unable to bear a child, which will not allow me to fulfill my main duty to my husband. Nor will it allow me to fulfill my duty to Camelot. Maybe his priorities lie with Camelot, instead of with me.'_

These thoughts had been bothering Ygraine for nearly an hour now, and to longer they stayed the heavier the worry in her heart grew. Uther was a man loyal to his beliefs, and he had often voiced his opinion on the duty he had to his people. This thought only caused Ygraine to worry even more, if she couldn't fulfill her duties as a Queen, namely to produce an heir to the king. Uther, fueled by loyalty to his people might have another women bear his heir.

Ygraine had failed to notice that her worries had caused tears to run down her face, changing her usually kind and friendly appearance to a look that many would pity her for. However, Uther was quite observant, and was hurrying his way over to his wife within seconds, his hand raised to brush away her tears and a soft, gently kiss placed upon her pale pink lips.

"Ygraine," he started, trying to comfort his crying wife, "I would never leave you, as you are the only one that has my heart."

Ygraine took a deep breath and looked into her husband's eyes before voicing her worries, "What if I cannot provide you with an heir? What will it become of Camelot then?" Her eyes brought across the sheer worry she felt and the way she would do anything for her king.

Uther was silent for a moment, his mind racing to find a way to structure the blubbering responses his mind was trying to say, "Ygraine, if that is the case. If you are unable to produce a child, I will find any other mean that does enable you of doing so, -" Uther's thought was left unfinished and the moment was broken as Gaius walked back into the room.

Uther was up on his feet in an instant, walking towards the man. His eyes were full of both expectation and worry as he asked the question that he wanted an answer to,

"What is it Gaius?"

The atmosphere in the room tensed significantly as Gaius took a dejected breath, "I'm sorry, but your wife is unable to bear a child, her reproductive system seems to have a slight malfunction. Unfortunately due to this there is no natural solu-" he was cut off by a loud sob coming from the direction of the bed, and both men looked up to see waves of tears washing down the face of the Queen. Uther hurriedly retreated back to his wife and wrapped a comforting arm around her, in a silent hug, trying to tell her that it was going to be alright, although the uncertain look on his face told Gaius he didn't know what to do either.

For a while Gaius stood silently in the middle of the floor, over-viewing the couple, before he cleared his throat causing Uther's head to snap up at him with a furious look in his eyes, daring his friend to say another thing to further hurt his wife.

"What I wanted to say," Gaius started giving Uther a pointed look, "is that Nimueh came into my office just as I was done, and I apologize but I informed her of the current situation, and Nimueh seemed to remember an spell of the Old Religion that could help Ygraine bear a child. She left to the library to try to find the book; she'll be here any second ready to help."

Uther's expression turned into one of hopefulness and his wife's sobs quieted down slightly, and Ygraine turned to face Gaius. Her eyes were red and weary and there wear tear tracks down her face, she was about to question Gaius as Nimueh walked in; a heavy and dusty book was tucked under her arm.

"Sire, Gaius informed me of your situation, although I am sure he meant no harm." She said as she curtsied for the King and Queen, before straightening herself and putting the book down on the table, to then turn towards the royals with a questioning look in her eyes,

"I was wondering if maybe you would like to request the help of Magic to produce an heir?" her question didn't need to be answered aloud as the look shared between Ygraine and Uther was unmistakable, she was prepared to try for her husband.

Uther however, wanted to know a bit more before agreeing and he questioned Nimueh, "What will the magic need?"

Nimueh smiled kindly at the King before she started to speak, "The Magic of the Old Religion is greatly focused on the Balance off the Earth, and there is a price to pay. For every life created another must be taken, the balance must be restored."

Uther pondered for a while, until he gained to conclusion that certainly somewhere in Albion, an man or woman, would die of natural causes such as old-age or disease, and that he would gain an heir. He shared another look with his wife before speaking aloud,

"Do what you must Nimueh."

-9 Months Later-

The midwife walked out into the hallway and barked an order at a maid that was passing by, before returning into the royal nursery, were Queen Ygraine lay in bed, her face contorted in pain. The midwife continued telling her queen reassuring ears that fell on deaf ears as another contraction hit the Queen and an almost simultaneous scream erupted from her throat.

A towel was wiped across her face, wiping away the sweat, as another scream sounded across the nursery room and into the hall, were his Royal Highness King Uther was once again pacing back and forth, his wife had been in there for over four hours, and had been screaming in agony for just as long.

His Wife and Him had been utterly happy when Ygraine fell pregnant, and they had thanked the sorceress Nimueh greatly, even going as far as throwing her a humongous banquet with the most exotic dishes and drinks.

Another ear-piercing scream ripped him from his reverie, but it did not stop his pacing, but the King froze into place when a much lighter and higher pitched cry reached his ears, the cry of a baby. Uther slammed the doors to the nursery open and ignoring the look from the midwife and the maids he stalked towards the bed in the center of his room, only to find his wife propped up against a large quantity of pillows, her face pale and drops of sweat dotting her face, but nonetheless she seemed happy.

Another shill baby cry dragged Uther's eyes from his wife's face to her arms, whom were cradling a tiny infant wrapped in a large linen cloth to keep warm.

"Congratulation Sire, you have a son." The midwife stated proudly, wringing her hands together with a large smile stuck on her face.

That was the moment of utter happiness for Uther, and as he saw Nimueh walk into the room, he stood up to thank her once again, but he froze mid-step as he heard the sound of choking. He turned swiftly to see his wife's face slowly but steadily changing from the pale white to a deathly blue.

Uther's eyes widened as he stepped back towards his wife, her eyes searching for his, but they closes halfway in their journey and with one last shudder Queen Ygraine fell silent. Almost instantly the midwife took the baby boy from his hands as he threw himself forward to check his wife for a pulse, he pressed his fingers to her neck and searched in vain, but there was no sign of a heart-beat.

It took Uther two more seconds to jump up and walk over to Nimueh, his hands on her throat as he yelled in anger, "I loved her!" and his grip tightened across her throat causing her to choke, "and you killed her!"

"N-no Sire," Nimueh choked, "The Old R-relig-g-ion want-ts a l-l-lif-fe in ex-c-hange."

"You knew that she would die!" he roared as he tightened his grip even further, "And you let her die!"

"It-t was-sn't m-m-me sire!" Nimueh tried in vain to exclaim, "it was the magic!"

"Magic killed my wife!" Uther yelled in her face, shaking her back and forth before letting go.

"You will pay for this Nimueh, you and all of your kind!" he yelled stabbing his finger at her before yelling, "send for Geoffrey and tell him to create a low to outlaw all magic in Camelot."

He looked around at all the people in this room, and one look at them and they all scrambled away from him, fearing for their own lives, the midwife safely held the baby prince in her arms as she exited the room, and once he was left alone King Uther finally realized his wife was gone, for all eternity, he sunk down beside her bed and for the first time he cried.

That night the kind and observant and kind Uther died with his wife, but a new Uther was born, on that would loath magic for the rest of his life, and outlaw it in the Kingdom of Camelot.

**Woo-hoo, 2,000+ words and 4 pages on word… Quite good for a One-Shot, in my opinion. Please tell me if I was successful or if there is anything I could improve, I am more than ready to learn.**

******[Revised - Edited: 18-10-2012, thank you for the review XStrawberryDuckFeathersX. I've edited some of the smaller mistakes, however, the longer sentences is kind of my style. Nonetheless thanks for the comments.]**


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